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Insulin-like growth factors are crucial in cellular growth, differentiation, and reproduction by mediating many of the actions of growth hormone in chickens. To determine whether insulin-like growth factors genes (IGFs) are associated with important economic traits in chicken or not, we herein analyzed the association between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within IGF1 and IGF2 and twenty-seven growth, body measurement, carcass, and reproduction traits in two Chinese native breeds, i.e., Beijing You and Silkies. With marker-trait association analysis, we found that SNP IGF1-PstI, within the 5' flanking region of IGF1, was significantly associated with body weight at 8 (BW8), 10 (BW10), and 13 (BW13) wk of age; and shank length (SL13) and shank circumference (SC13) at 13 wk of age in Silkie population (P < 0.05). The SNP IGF2-MspI within the exon2 of IGF2 showed a significant association with body weight (BW17) and carcass weight (CW17) at 17 wk of age in Beijing You population (P < 0.05). Our findings implied that the SNPs within IGF1 and IGF2 genes could be in linkage disequilibrium with the actual causative mutations that affect growth and carcass traits.

Bio-economic profit models were used on Chinese Holstein production system to evaluate economic values for production traits Milk Yield (MY), Fat Percentage (FP), Protein Percentage (PP)) growth traits Mature Live Weight (LW) and functional traits Age at First Calving (AFC), Calving Interval (CI), Production Lifetime (PL) and Somatic Cell Count (SCC) traits. Economic and production parameters were derived from large scale dairy farms located in Beijing in 2008 to characterize Chinese Holstein production system, which were described according to their growth stage and levels of feed and management environment. Revenue and cost were calculated according to different age group in dairy production. With a fixed number of cows per herd as a basis of evaluation, two milk payment systems were considered. Under payment system based on milk volume, estimated economic values were RMB 1.99 (MY, kg),-4.72 (PP, %), -8.00 (FP,%), 0 (SCC), -4.96 (AFC, days), 1.71 (CI, days), -2.73 (LW, kg) and 1.58 (PL, days), respectively. Under payment system based on milk composition and quality (fat percentage, Protein Percentage, SCC), changes in the economic values were only observed for PP (64.21), FP (41.24), SCC (-393.88), respectively. Sensitivity of economic values was studied, factors considered included the price of milk, price of beef, price of feed and other production variables. Economic values of MY, PP and FP increased significantly with higher price of milk and the beef price had no effect on the economic values of milk production traits. With higher feed price, the economic value for the grow traits and functional traits increased, but that for milk production traits decreased. In summary, evaluated economical value for different traits showed that production and functional traits would have a positive effect, while growth traits would have a negative effect on profitability of Chinese Holstein production system and price of milk and feed were identified as the main factors influencing profit. The bio-economic profit model constructed for Chinese Holstein breeding system could provide general ideas for breeding goals setting in Chinese dairy breeding system in the future.

As part of the investigation of mechanisms underlying alcohol adverse effects, the epigenetic modifications caused by alcohol intake on germlines and embryos have never been explored and were the aim of the present research. Therefore, this study was designed to assess DNA methylation in sperms and oocytes and the DNA methylation of pre-implantation embryos in the condition of chronic alcohol consumption address whether alcohol ingestion are associated with genome-wide DNA level of reproduction and embryo. In this experiment, after a month with alcohol treatment, mate caged Kunming white mice were divided into four groups: group I, females without alcohol treatment (♀) x males without alcohol treatment (♂); group II, females without alcohol treatment (♀) x males with alcohol treatment (♂); group III, females with alcohol treatment (♀) x males without alcohol treatment (♂); group IV, females with alcohol treatment (♀)xmales with alcohol treatment (♂). By using immunofluorescence technique (anti-5-methylcytidine antibody) a prominent effect of alcohol on DNA methylation profiles in germlines and embryos from four groups was discovered. The results showed that alcohol had some effects on sperm motility parameters and morphological characteristics of mice. Male or female mice in chronic alcohol consumption have a reduction of global DNA methylation level in germlines with a comparison of control groups. In addition, incongruous DNA methylation of pre-implantation embryos resulted from males or females with alcohol ingestion. Researchers report here that DNA methylation of germlines disrupted by alcohol may be associated with incongruous DNA methylation of pre-implantation embryos.

Employee turnover is a large and expensive problem in the long-term care environment. Stated intention to leave is a reliable
indicator of likely turnover, but actual predictors, especially for nursing assistants, have been incompletely investigated.
This quantitative study identifies the relationships among employees working conditions, mental health, and intention to
leave. Self-administered questionnaires were collected with 1,589 employees in 18 for-profit nursing homes. A working condition
index for the number of beneficial job features was constructed. Poisson regression modeling found that employees who reported
four positive features were 77% less likely to state strong intention to leave (PR = 0.23, p < .001). The strength of relationship between working conditions and intention to leave was slightly mediated by employee
mental health. Effective workplace intervention programs must address work organization features to reduce employee intention
to leave. Healthy workplaces should build better interpersonal relationships, show respect for employee work, and involve
employees in decision-making processes.

The adipocyte integrates crucial information about metabolic needs in order to balance energy intake, storage, and expenditure. Whereas white adipose tissue stores energy, brown adipose tissue is a major site of energy dissipation through adaptive thermogenesis mediated by uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in mammals. In both white and brown adipose tissue, nuclear receptors and their coregulators, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and PPARγ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), play key roles in regulating their development and metabolic functions. Here we show the unexpected role of liver X receptor α (LXRα) as a direct transcriptional inhibitor of β-adrenergic receptor-mediated, cyclic AMP-dependent Ucp1 gene expression through its binding to the critical enhancer region of the Ucp1 promoter. The mechanism of inhibition involves the differential recruitment of the corepressor RIP140 to an LXRα binding site that overlaps with the PPARγ/PGC-1α response element, resulting in the dismissal of PPARγ. The ability of LXRα to dampen energy expenditure in this way provides another mechanism for maintaining a balance between energy storage and utilization.

Macrophages play key roles in obesity-associated pathophysiology, including inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cancer, and processes that affect the survival-death balance of macrophages may have an important impact on obesity-related diseases. Adipocytes and other cells secrete a protein called extracellular nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (eNampt; also known as pre-B cell colony enhancing factor or visfatin), and plasma levels of eNampt increase in obesity. Herein we tested the hypothesis that eNampt could promote cell survival in macrophages subjected to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, a process associated with obesity and obesity-associated diseases. We show that eNampt potently blocks macrophage apoptosis induced by a number of ER stressors. The mechanism involves a two-step sequential process: rapid induction of interleukin 6 (IL-6) secretion, followed by IL-6-mediated autocrine/paracrine activation of the prosurvival signal transducer STAT3. The ability of eNampt to trigger this IL-6/STAT3 cell survival pathway did not depend on the presence of the Nampt enzymatic substrate nicotinamide in the medium, could not be mimicked by the Nampt enzymatic product nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), was not blocked by the Nampt enzyme inhibitor FK866, and showed no correlation with enzyme activity in a series of site-directed mutant Nampt proteins. Thus, eNampt protects macrophages from ER stress-induced apoptosis by activating an IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway via a nonenzymatic mechanism. These data suggest a novel action and mechanism of eNampt that could affect the balance of macrophage survival and death in the setting of obesity, which in turn could play important roles in obesity-associated diseases.